CBS News debunks "As Putin rears his head" claim: Moscow flights travel westerly over the Atlantic

[sabra]

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/09/25/politics/fromtheroad/entry4479278.shtml

<snip>

In a final effort to provide details of her experience on Russia, Palin suggested to Couric that Russian leaders fly over Alaskan territory when they travel to the U.S.

“As Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America, where do they go? It’s Alaska,” Palin said. “It’s just right over the border.”

But when Russian leaders travel to the United States from Moscow, such as when then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the White House in 2005, their flights travel on a westerly path over the Atlantic, thousands of miles from Alaskan airspace.

[FreakinDJ]

1. Ooooppps - and she is not even Blond

[bunnies]

2. Does this woman ever NOT lie?

:banghead:

[ORDem]

5. In order to lie you have to know what the truth is. She just makes shit up. n/t

[bunnies]

8. Good point. She might just be the dumbest politician. Ever. nt

[FreakinDJ]

20. Another George Bush "High Functioning Moron"

This time with "New and Improved Breast and Squeaky Voice"

Sorry for the sexist remarks - KKKarl Rove made me do it

[bunnies]

26. ....

:spray: You nailed it!

[formercia]

34. It must really hurt

to pull shit out of that anal-retentive ass of hers.

[Submariner]

3. She probably meant the Bear bombers

encroaching on Alaska air space. The bombers test Alaskan Air Command response times and then our F15's escort them back into international air space.

[SteelPenguin]

11. This is what I assumed she meant

it's still BS.

[Brotherjohn]

13. I thought that might be the case. But come ON! THAT'S foreign policy experience?

That has nothing whatsoever to do with her job any more than it has to do with that of a City Councilman somewhere in Kansas! I supose as Gov. of Alaska, she is now in charge of the U.S. Air Force? She's not even really "in charge" of the AK NG.

[Submariner]

19. Scrambling jets is purely a function of orders from and within the USAF

I agree, Palin has ZERO input to Alaska air defenses. It's just common knowledge up there that the Bear bomber flights have resumed since Putin's soul gave a big FU to Dumbya recently.

[sabra]

15. could be - but her wording could cause one to interpret it as Putin or Moscow officials

[jberryhill]

28. That's what I thought she meant - but of course she has nothing to do with

Because she's never been anywhere, she must think it is novel for a state to border another country unlike, say every state from Maine to Washington, and of course the more interesting border from Texas to California.

And of course the game of airspace tag went on for decades over the Atlantic as well.

Weren't there reports back in the 80's of fun & games on some of the unoccupied rocks in the Aleutian atoll that inspired "Red Dawn" madness among freeper types?

[mcg]

30. Palin's wording "comes into the airspace" is incorrect.

More Russian bombers flying off Alaska coast
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/04/airforce_pacaf_040608/

... None of the Russian bombers has entered American airspace, which extends 12 miles out from U.S. soil, said Maj. Allen Herritage, a spokesman for NORAD’s Alaska region. Rather, the bombers have been intercepted after entering the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone, a buffer that extends even further out.

The intercept sorties have most often been flown by F-15s, though on at least one occasion, in November, two F-22 Raptors greeted the Russians.

There also has been no indication that the bombers were carrying weapons or opened their bomb bay doors, Herritage said.

Russia experts interviewed by Air Force Times said the close encounters undoubtedly increase tensions between the two nations but do not indicate a return to the climate of the Cold War. ...

[SoxFan]

32. That's what I thought

During the Cold War, the Soviets would probe the air space off of the New England coast, snooping around the SAC bomber base in Portsmouth and the ASW naval air station in Brunswick.

[truthisfreedom]

4. Oh come on, she's horrible, but it's obvious she was talking about Russia flying

military runs approaching US airspace. She may not know what she's talking about, but I doubt she was suggesting that Putin would be in a plane on his way to Alaska.

[Schema Thing]

18. yes. this rebuttal is a silly and inaccurate gotcha by cbs

probably the facts about Russian flyovers would minimize her stance anyway... but even if not, it was a dumb position for her to take.

why rebut it with something even dumber?

[truthisfreedom]

24. She was nervous as hell during the debate, and she prattled on like an idiot.

I felt I was watching a teenager being asked questions about something only an adult would understand.

[FightingIrish]

6. I've watched a couple of clips. Is that what speaking in tongues is all about?

[Hissyspit]

7. "Rears his head" was a stupid way to phrase it.

The woman is dangerous.

[jberryhill]

29. She did manage to drop the word "ugly", though /nt

[DCofVA]

9. I think she was playing fear card, suggesting if Russia were to invade the US

It would be through Alaska.

[kikiek]

10. At what point does she lose all credibility with the average voter? How disappointing

it is that anyone will even consider voting for that mess. This country has fallen further into it's shallowness than even I realized. What a shame.

[Solomon]

17. She never will. Geraldo Riviera was asked this morning whether

his opinion of Palin is now lower because of the interviews and he actually said "no, he still finds her quite refreshing". I kid you not.

I can't believe the people who are willing to ruin they're credibility over this woman.

[kikiek]

22. Geraldo is thinking with the wrong head, per uusal.

[knitter4democracy]

Why the hell would they take the long way?

Unless she thinks they go over the North Pole, which is also stupid.

She really is dumber than a rock.

[Barack_America]

14. She thinks that Siberia is a hotbed of Russian political activity. nt

[Barack_America]

12. "As Putin rears his head". What was with the mocking tone and hand gestures when she said that?

So, so clueless.

[firedupdem]

16. I don't even know if she is lying...she's just dumb as hell....they

don't pick people based on intelligence. That entire party is a group of dumb fucks.

[kikiek]

23. That is it in a nutshell. That is what they look for. They are training their monkey just like Bush.

[Bread and Circus]

21. I've been to Russia twice, both times we flew over the Atlantic.

[TheDonkey]

25. No shit, she still cannot understand the fact that Siberia is between Alaska and "Russia"

[MindMatter]

33. Exactly. It is 1000 miles of nothingness,

just like the Northwest Territories on the other side.

Dare we try to explain to her that even though the map on her wall may be flay, the Earth is actually round? The shortest distance from Moscow to Europe is definitely not through Alaska, and the shortest distance to New York or Washington is over the top.

But what difference does any of that make anyway. If Putin wanted to fly, say, to Minneapolis or Toronto, he would clear a flight plan, just like any other aircraft. And if that flight plan passed over Alaska, so what?

[Heather MC]

27. "I can see Putin from his plane"

:rofl:
as if we didn't know she was lying

[krabigirl]

31. Lol..I thought she meant Putin flew over Alaska in a UFO, or a superman cape.

:)

[CitizenLeft]

35. I was gonna say, WTF?

Does Putin have a summer home in Siberia? How the hell is he flying over Alaska?

Sarah Palin is keeping her eye on Putin and Russia for us, huh? I feel safer already.